High school football player drowns during team event, and now his Ohio coach is on leave

Nearly three weeks after 14-year-old Toshaye Pope drowned during an event for his high school football team, an Ohio school district has placed the player’s head coach on administrative leave, according to media reports.

Akron Public Schools said Ellet High School football coach Steve Fasig was placed on leave as the district investigates what led to Toshaye’s July death, WOIO reported.

Allen Tittle, an attorney representing Toshaye’s family, called the school’s decision “better late than never.”

“Toshaye’s family hopes Akron Public School’s truly conducts a comprehensive investigation into the events, choices, and system failures that lead to Toshaye’s death,” Tittle said in a statement to McClatchy News. “We all want answers — placing Coach Fasig on leave is the first step in doing so.”

Fasig was hired in April as the high school’s football coach, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

How did Toshaye Pope die?

Toshaye, an incoming freshman at Akron Early College School, joined the Ellet High School team because his specialty school did not have a football program.

He was attending an event on Thursday, July 21, with his team at Melanie Lake, but the family’s attorney said his parents were not aware of the team’s plans until later.

Timothy and Victoria Washington, Toshaye’s parents, said their 14-year-old son drowned in an area of the lake that was 14 feet deep, WJW reported.

The students were taken to the lake without permission from the parents, who did not sign a waiver, the mother said in an interview with WEWS.

“When I got the call from Springfield Township police, I’m like what was my son doing in Springfield Township?” Timothy Washington told the station. “He’s never been to a lake or an ocean without me and mom, so there’s no way he would have been there because he can’t swim.”

A representative for Melanie Lake said five lifeguards were on duty, but the attorney representing the family said “these lifeguards were nowhere to be found,” according to WOIO.

The team’s coach is believed to have left the group of nearly 50 athletes at the lake before the incident, according to WJW. The school has not commented on which coaches were at the lake outing, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Toshaye died on Saturday, July 23, at Akron Children’s Hospital, an obituary states.

“Our hearts remain with the family of an incoming Early College High School student who drowned while attending a picnic with the Ellet CLC football team,” Akron Public Schools Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack said at the time, the Beacon Journal reported. “The district has ordered a full investigation of the incident.”

Who was Toshaye Pope?

Toshaye was known as an “exceptional student and the class clown” while attending Eastland Academy in Columbus, according to an obituary. His family later moved to Akron, where he attended the STEM Academy and Hyre Middle School.

“Toshaye was such a positive young man and a natural leader,” the obituary states. “He will leave a legacy of strength, determination, and commitment to success for his siblings, teammates and everyone who knew him. He was loved deeply and will never be forgotten. He was a light to his family and the world.”

His parents told WJW their son was a standout in boxing, wrestling, basketball and football. But he was as skilled academically as he was athletically, according to the family.

“He was very good in math. He was like a genius,” Victoria Johnson told the station.

“He was the kid that every dad wants,” Timothy Johnson added to the Beacon Journal. “... I told all my kids, ‘Whatever you put your mind to, you can do. And if you don’t like it, at least you tried it.’ And he was the kid that tried everything.”

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